Department of Education

Loan Programs and Interest Rates

Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan: No longer available to graduate professional students.

Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans: are available to undergraduate and graduate students from the Direct Loan Program and guaranteed by the federal government. However, the federal government does not pay the interest while the student is in school.

Effective July 1, 2013 interest rates have changed to a “variable-fixed” rate. The rate would be fixed until the loan is paid in full. Interest rates will be established on July 1, for the upcoming academic year. For the 2015/2016 academic year the interest rate is 5.84% (T-bill + 3.60%) which starts accruing interest as soon as the funds are disbursed to the university. Please remember, that the interest rate for the 2016/2017academic year may differ based on what the 10-Year T-Bill will be by the end of May 2016.

Increased Annual Unsubsidized Loan Limits: Western University participated in the Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) program before its phase out in 1998. As a result, the school may award the increased unsubsidized amounts to students who are enrolled full-time in a health professions discipline that was eligible under the HEAL program and is accredited by an approved accrediting agency. Because the increased annual unsubsidized Stafford Loan limits are intended to replace funds that would have been available previously under the HEAL program, the annual loan limits for the increased unsubsidized amounts are the same as the HEAL program annual loan limits.

Grad PLUS Loan: are available to graduate students from the Direct Loan Program and guaranteed by the federal government. However, the federal government does not pay the interest while the student is in school.

Effective July 1, 2013 interest rates have changed to a “variable-fixed” rate. The rate would be fixed until the loan is paid in full. Interest rates will be established on July 1, for the upcoming academic year. For the 2015/2016 academic year the interest rate is 6.84% (T-bill + 4.60%) which starts accruing interest as soon as the funds are disbursed to the university. Please remember, that the interest rate for the 2016/2017 academic year may differ based on what the 10-Year T-Bill will be by the end of May 2016.

Themaximum annual Unsubsidized Stafford loan limits as per the Department of Education per program are as follows for the 2015/2016 academic year:

Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program

The Grad PLUS Loan will be awarded to students with an unmet need to fill the gap in their budget (please refer to your award letter for your actual award eligibility amounts).

Award Notifications

Students will be notified via Western University email of their award letter notice. All subsequent awards or changes to the award will generate an additional or revised award letter notice.

Students may accept all or a partial amount of their award. When accepting your loans, students should always accept the loan with the lowest interest rate first (unsubsidized) and then the Grad PLUS Loan. Scholarships will always be taken into consideration first when awarding the student.

Western University is a graduate /professional university and is not eligible for Pell Grants.

Overawards

Federal regulations prohibit students from being awarded beyond the cost of attendance established for their program. An overaward occurs when a student receives resources (such as scholarships or grants) in addition to federal funding and the combined award exceeds the student’s financial need established by the cost of attendance. Federal regulations require that overawards be eliminated as they are discovered. Overawards that are found before financial aid has been disbursed must be eliminated prior to any disbursement by reducing financial aid.

Students will be notified when they are overawarded and funds are being reduced or canceled to eliminate the overaward.

A borrower who has reached his or her aggregate borrowing limit may not receive additional loans. Once the loans are repaid, in full or in part, the borrower may apply for additional Stafford loans. Outstanding loans include student loans received while the student completed undergraduate and graduate work. In the case of Consolidation loans, the outstanding amounts of any underlying Stafford loans are counted towards the loan limits. The total loan debt a student may have outstanding from all Stafford loans differs depending on their program.

$138,500 for the MSHS, DPT, MSPA, MSBS, MSMS and all Nursing programs, no more than $65,500 of this aggregate amount may be in the form of subsidized loans.

The FWS program provides funds for part-time jobs which allow students to earn money needed to pay for educational expenses. FWS awards are a form of federal financial aid. In order to be eligible students must have completed a current FAFSA, have remaining “unmet need”, be a permanent or U.S. citizen, be in good academic standing and be enrolled at least half-time. Positions could be available on or off campus. Students are encouraged to find positions that provide work experience in their field of study or provide valuable service to the community.

• Loan Cancellation

You May cancel or reduce the amount of your loan by writing to your school’s financial aid office or lender before your lender sends your money to your school. There are also two ways to cancel all or part of your loan after your loan money is sent to your school. You may contact the school within 14 days of the date the school informs you they have applied your loan to your account or you can pay back all or a part of your loan within 120 days of the date your lender sends your loan money to your school.

• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Students must be meeting SAP standards as defined by your college to receive financial aid. Please go to the college catalog for your programs SAP policy and procedures. Western University College Catalog